Nepal

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The number of individual languages listed for Nepal is 121. Of these, 120 are living and 1 is extinct. Of the living languages, 110 are indigenous and 10 are non-indigenous. Furthermore, 8 are institutional, 18 are developing, 30 are vigorous, 55 are in trouble, and 9 are dying.

The government of Nepal officially recognizes 59 indigenous nationalities, or “Adibasi Janajatis” as they are called in Nepali. They are enumerated in the 2002 legislation that created the National Foundation for Development of Indigenous Nationalities, Act 20, Section 2a. Furthermore, the Interim Constitution of 2007 states in Article 5 that all languages spoken as mother tongues in Nepal are considered national languages.

Language Counts

The number of individual languages listed for Nepal is 121. Of these, 120 are living and 1 is extinct. Of the living languages, 110 are indigenous and 10 are non-indigenous. Furthermore, 8 are institutional, 18 are developing, 30 are vigorous, 55 are in trouble, and 9 are dying.